Jockey Club's Kempton Park: Profitable All-Weather Track Faces Potential Housing Development
Kempton Park's all-weather track, known for hosting the King George VI Chase, is highly profitable but faces potential redevelopment for housing. The Jockey Club negotiated an option with Redrow in 2018, giving the developer the right to buy Kempton for housing development. This option, which could be exercised if planning permission is secured, holds until 2028 with a possible extension if a planning application is ongoing. A new planning-infrastructure bill awaiting royal assent could ease development by limiting local objections.
If developed, plans initially envisaged about 3,000 houses near the M25 and a rail link to Waterloo. Proceeds from a sale could fund a new all-weather track at Newmarket. Despite the potential, Jockey Club chief executive Jim Mullen stated there are no concrete development plans since his arrival in 2025.
The Jockey Club operates under a royal charter with a governance model described as feudal-like, including nine stewards elected from around 200 invitation-only members. There has been significant opposition to redevelopment: in 2017 and again with an alternative 2020 proposal suggesting 500 houses, reflecting tensions between preserving racing heritage and development ambitions.
